PhD Program Information

The Tri-University’s PhD program in History is innovatively designed so that it can be completed in four years of full-time study. Students generally participate in three field seminars in their first year and sit their major field exam in their fourth registration term.

The fields serve to provide students with teachable areas and to advance them on their dissertation research. Because students are able to move through the field completion phase of their degree in one year, they can devote the majority of their studies to their own research, teaching, and writing. In this way, the program succeeds in combining solid field training within a four-year completion structure without compromise to the student’s research, professional development or writing.

Other innovative features of the program include the presentation of a portion of the dissertation in a colloquium setting, a first year professional development seminar and a fourth-year teaching practicum. The teaching practicum gives each eligible doctoral student the opportunity to teach a course of their own with the advice of an academic mentor. For more information on the program, please consult the most recent PhD Handbook.